Source: OJ L, 2024/1620, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR)
Article 31 Coordination and facilitation of the work of the AML/CFT supervisory colleges in the financial sector
Summary What does Article 31 of the Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) say?
This article deals with the Authority's role in relation to AML/CFT supervisory colleges in the financial sector, specifically for non-selected obliged entities — that is, financial institutions operating across multiple Member States that are not under the Authority's direct supervision.
The article is closely linked to Article 5(3), which outlines the Authority's broader tasks towards financial supervisors, and complements the direct supervision framework for selected obliged entities covered elsewhere in the regulation.
Rather than taking over supervision, the Authority acts as a facilitator and overseer of these colleges, with powers ranging from establishing a college where none exists, to assisting with joint inspections and sharing information across national supervisors.
Important points:
- The Authority is empowered to establish an AML/CFT supervisory college for a non-selected obliged entity if one has not been set up despite the conditions for doing so being met.
- The Authority's staff have full participation rights in supervisory college activities, including joint on-site inspections carried out by two or more financial supervisors.
- The Authority's role here is facilitative and oversight-based — the powers of the relevant national financial supervisors are explicitly preserved.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
The Authority shall ensure, within the scope of its powers and without prejudice to the powers of the relevant financial supervisors, that AML/CFT supervisory colleges in the financial sector are established and functioning consistently for non-selected obliged entities operating establishments in several Member States in accordance with Article 49 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640. To that end, the Authority may:
establish a college, where such a college has not yet been established even though the conditions for its establishment set out in Article 49 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 are met, and convene and organise meetings of colleges;
assist in the organisation of college meetings, where requested by the relevant financial supervisors;
assist in the organisation of joint supervisory plans and joint on-site inspections or off-site investigations;
collect and share all relevant information in cooperation with the financial supervisors in order to facilitate the work of the college and make such information accessible to the authorities of the college;
promote effective and efficient supervisory activities and practices, including evaluating the risks to which non-selected obliged entities are or might be exposed;
oversee, in accordance with the tasks and powers specified in this Regulation, the tasks carried out by the financial supervisors.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, the staff of the Authority shall have full participation rights in the AML/CFT supervisory colleges and shall be able to participate in their activities, including on-site inspections, carried out jointly by two or more financial supervisors.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
crypto-asset services
Definition
supervisor
Definition
financial mixed activity holding company
Definition
non-selected obliged entity
Definition
crypto-asset service provider
Definition
credit institution
- a credit institution as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;
- a branch of a credit institution, as defined in Article 4(1), point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
parent undertaking
- for groups whose head office is located in the Union, an obliged entity that is a parent undertaking as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive 2013/34/EU that is not itself a subsidiary of another undertaking in the Union, provided that at least one subsidiary undertaking is an obliged entity;
- for groups whose head office is located outside of the Union, where at least two subsidiary undertakings are obliged entities established in the Union, an undertaking within that group established in the Union that:
- is an obliged entity;
- is an undertaking that is not a subsidiary of another undertaking that is an obliged entity established in the Union;
- has a sufficient prominence within the group and a sufficient understanding of the operations of the group that are subject to the requirements of this Regulation; and
- is given the responsibility of implementing group-wide requirements under Chapter II, Section 2 of this Regulation;
Definition
selected obliged entity
Definition
crypto-asset
Definition
establishment
- a branch or subsidiary;
- in the case of credit institutions and financial institutions, an infrastructure qualifying as an establishment under prudential regulation;
Definition
property
Definition
group
Definition
financial institution
- an undertaking other than a credit institution or an investment firm, which carries out one or more of the activities listed in points (2) to (12), (14) and (15) of Annex I to Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(32), including the activities of currency exchange offices (bureaux de change), but excluding the activities referred to in point (8) of Annex I to Directive (EU) 2015/2366, or an undertaking the principal activity of which is to acquire holdings, including a financial holding company, a mixed financial holding company and a financial mixed activity holding company;
- an insurance undertaking as defined in Article 13, point (1), of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(33), insofar as it carries out life or other investment-related assurance activities covered by that Directive, including insurance holding companies and mixed-activity insurance holding companies as defined, respectively, in Article 212(1), points (f) and (g), of Directive 2009/138/EC;
- an insurance intermediary as defined in Article 2(1), point (3), of Directive (EU) 2016/97 where it acts with respect to life insurance and other investment-related insurance services, with the exception of an insurance intermediary that does not collect premiums or amounts intended for the customer and which acts under the responsibility of one or more insurance undertakings or intermediaries for the products which concern them respectively;
- an investment firm as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(34);
- a collective investment undertaking, in particular:
- an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) as defined in Article 1(2) of Directive 2009/65/EC and its management company as defined in Article 2(1), point (b), of that Directive or an investment company authorised in accordance with that Directive and which has not designated a management company, that makes available for purchase units of UCITS in the Union;
- an alternative investment fund as defined in Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2011/61/EU and its alternative investment fund manager as defined in Article 4(1), point (b), of that Directive that fall within the scope set out in Article 2 of that Directive;
- a central securities depository as defined in Article 2(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(35);
- a creditor as defined in Article 4, point (2), of Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(36) and in Article 3, point (b), of Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(37);
- a credit intermediary as defined in Article 4, point (5), of Directive 2014/17/EU and in Article 3, point (f), of Directive 2008/48/EC, when holding the funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 in connection with the credit agreement, with the exception of the credit intermediary carrying out activities under the responsibility of one or more creditors or credit intermediaries;
- a crypto-asset service provider;
- a branch of a financial institution referred to in points (a) to (i), when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
third country
Definition
funds